In-depth Insight on Important Issues

More on HOA Bullying at Bradford Place, Vero Beach, FL.

ON APRIL 28, 2016 WE PUBLISHED AN ARTICLE ON HOA BULLYING AT BRADFORD PLACE, VERO BEACH, FL WHERE HOME OWNER STEVE GLASER IS BEING THREATENED WITH A LAWSUIT FOR HAVING FLOWERS THAT ARE “TOO COLORFUL” IN HIS FRONT YARD. AND HOW THEY ARE DECREASING THE VALUE OF HIS AND OTHER RESIDENCES.

Since publishing this article we have received two comments and one email that was forwarded to us. As a follow-up to our previous article we thought this would be good material for you.

“Yes he is being singled out, as a bradford place resident i also have been singled out, That is why i will be moving out june 1st because of all the B.S. this place does to its residents, steves flowers are beautiful and he is commited to keeping his property nice. If i was him i would be suing the HOA for harrasment. HOA needs to watch there contractors better so they dont ruin roofs and peoples vehicles.”

Steve Glaser’s flowers, located within the mulch boundary.

“Talk about decreasing the value of property in Bradford Place, who would want to live here with such a nasty HOA?”

“To the Bradford Place Board,

Greetings. I have owned a unit at Bradford Place since 2009, and I am highly concerned about the hostile environment that has grown in that community within the last year and half mostly.

I own many properties here in Florida, California and Montana and must say that most neighbors and/or associations are pleasant to work with. However, what’s transpired within Bradford Place in the past year or two can no longer be ignored by me. What I am specifically referring to are the constant ‘notice of violation’ letters for minor occurrences that, in reality, are just common human/daily instances where chores are being done and the age of having taken on too many responsibilities, we do not complete daily responsibilities as fast as when we weren’t working or had responsibilities outside of retirement.

Most folks in our community are not retired but rather have an abundance of duties to complete every second, every day. All rules and regulations are and will be followed but it has gotten extreme with regard to how quickly a notice of violation letter is created and sent without given a reasonable amount of time to finish what one had done (such as parking a car on the street to run in and get some items to load into the car).

Honestly, a simple knock on the door to inform the tenant/owner can ALWAYS resolve the communication/issue without a nasty letter. Here are some more examples which I am referring to highlight that many of these letters are unnecessary and quite honestly evoke anger in many…. My suggestion is that a violation is one which occurs after 24 hours has passed not a mere few hours.

EXAMPLES:

1). Notice of Violation for leaving the garage door open overnight… This could have immediately been rectified had someone politely informed the tenant/owner that they forgot to close their garage door – by walking up to the door and knocking on it. It would have been warmly received to know that the tenant/owner forgot to close the door overnight.. hence creating a security issue for them! No need for a notice of violation. That sure isn’t friendly but hostile.

2). Trash – Improper Storage – pick up is on Tuesday, the notice was filed on Wednesday… really? Having spent the night elsewhere and had not made it home until the following late afternoon/night due to job duties, kids, etc.. The neighborly thing to do would be to roll the recycle bin up close to the garage door for when the tenant/owner returned home, not a notice of violation. If after 24 hours then a notice. No one likes to look at it, people just can’t be on a schedule to act with the immediacy that the board or the ‘code enforcement officer’ prefers which obviously seems like within an hour or two… most people work and these letters should at least give the individual/family 24 hours BEFORE a letter is generated. I sure don’t want to pay the Management company for this work. Not in the least!

3). A car is parked on the street – give the individual the time to get what he/she needs out of the house before a notice is sent. On the contrary, no time is given… just at the convenience of whomever is driving around the block.

It’s time to stop the harassing behavior here. My point in these examples above is that this has got to STOP! These violation notices indicate to me that the more violations that are written, the more WE ALL pay management company to write them and send them. The current community is toxic and I truly do NOT want my HOA fees funding this action. Let’s save a tree, let’s be neighborly and speak to the individual by being friendly; and asking them to correct the situation AFTER you have given them sufficient REASONABLE time, and let’s create a community rather than a hostile environment.

Lastly, I also want to address the situation concerning the rumblings of a lawsuit with an owner who planted flowers… This is disgraceful that we are suing this owner because of flowers! Another indication that this has got to STOP! The flowers are real flowers – they are not plastic; they are not fake – they are real spring flowers. Someone is trying to beautify the property and the board choses to sue the owner? Disgusting! You are squashing someone’s love to flowers and creativity. My suggestion to this would be to advise the management company to offer flowers for every homeowner to purchase and have planted in their yards for a separate fee – this shows the owner that the community stands behind wanting to better their home and make it more welcoming … and MORE FLOWERS.

I would ask that a meeting take place with all the owners and a conference call is arranged for those who are not local – as members of the board, you all are responsible for creating an open, friendly, inviting environment. No one will want to live in our community with a board that acts in this manner, or a management company that takes the rules to the extreme by sending nasty letters. The management company is only doing what you direct them… and as home owner, I do not agree nor want this behavior to continue. It’s got to cease and be managed in a reasonable, mature, efficient manner.”